The Inconvenient Generation: Migrant Youth Coming of Age on Shanghai's Edge PDF
Preview The Inconvenient Generation: Migrant Youth Coming of Age on Shanghai's Edge
T H E I NCONV EN I EN T GEN ER AT ION This page intentionally left blank T H E I N C O NV EN I E N T G E N E R A T I O N Mig rant Youth Coming of Age on Shanghai’s Edge MINHUA LING STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2019 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid- free, archival- quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Ling, Minhua, 1979– author. Title: The incon ve nient generation: mi grant youth coming of age on Shanghai’s edge / Minhua Ling. Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019006066 (print) | LCCN 2019007223 (ebook) | ISBN 9781503610774 | ISBN 9781503609976 | ISBN 9781503609976 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781503610767 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Youth— China— Shanghai— Social conditions. | C hildren of internal mi grants— China— Shanghai— Social conditions. | Rural- urban migration— Social aspects— China— Shanghai. Classification: LCC HQ799. C62 (ebook) | LCC HQ799.C62 S44 2019 (print) | DDC 305.235— dc23 LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019006066 Cover design: Kevin Barrett Kane Cover photo: Minhua Ling Typeset by Westchester Publishing Ser vices in 10/14 Minion Pro For my parents This page intentionally left blank CON T EN TS Acknowl edgments ix Introduction: Coming of Age in an Urban Growth Dilemma 1 1 Living on the Periurban Edge 23 2 The “Reproduction Without Cultivation” Prob lem 55 3 Outsiders in Public M iddle School 81 4 “Bad Students Go to Vocational Schools!” 106 5 To Go Home or Not 128 6 Buying Belonging 151 7 “No Good Prospects in Shanghai!” 175 Conclusion: Next- Generation Shanghai 199 Appendix 1: China’s Policy Changes over Migration Management 205 Appendix 2: Brief Biographies of Mi grant Youth Mentioned in This Book 207 Notes 219 Glossary 231 References 241 Index 263 This page intentionally left blank ACK NOW LE DGM EN TS I am greatly indebted to many people and institutions without whose encour- agement and help this book could not have been pos si ble. My warmest grati- tude goes to the mig rant youth and their families in Shanghai, who welcomed me as an inquisitive researcher and friend and shared their dreams, disappoint- ments, strug gles, and successes over the years. I feel honored to witness and even participate in some of their life trajectories, and I hope my work does justice to their experiences. I am also deeply indebted to the teachers, administrators, and social workers who allowed me to conduct research in their schools and organ izations. I would like to thank Helen Siu for introducing to me to anthropology and always supporting me with her unwavering encouragement and constructive vision through many years. I greatly appreciate the generosity, patience, and insightfulness of William Kelly and Erik Harms. I cannot thank Deborah Davis enough for her continuous support and perceptive comments through the years. I am grateful to James Scott for the inspiration he provided in the agrarian studies seminar and the Incubator Breakfast sessions. In a formative stage of this proj ect, the development of my intellectual interest is owed in large part to Karen Nakamura, Mike McGovern, Douglas Rogers, Jonathan Spence, and Pierre Landry. As I worked on the book manuscript, I benefitted greatly from the com- ments of many colleagues. Par tic u lar thanks go to Jun Zhang for her timely and critical comments and continuous support throughout the w hole pro cess. I would also like to thank Matthew Guttman, and Teresa Kuan for reading and commenting on chapter drafts. I very much appreciate the thoughtful com- ments from Pál Nyíri, Robert Weller, Biao Xiang, and Juan Zhang at dif er ent writing stages. I feel much gratitude, moreover, to my colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for their encouragement and support for my research and writing: the mentorship and friendship of Joseph Bosco, Ju- chen Chen,
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